First off this is my first post and I want to say thank you to Gordon. I found your review videos on Utube very helpful and I hope you are able to grow this website to include many more reviews.

A little about my photographic background: I used to shoot on a Minolta X-700 manual focus camera until the film advance shaft broke on it. I then got a digital point and shoot and pretty much loss interest in photography until just recently when I got a Canon Rebel XT. I bought it body only and got the 50mm 1.8 and the 18-55 IS lens that I’m posting pictures here now.

I love this lens especially for the money. I used to have a Quantaray 35-80mm f4-5.6 which should be similar to this with the 1.6 crop, but this can do so much more with the IS and it is so much more sharp. I would suggest that anyone considering an entry-level Canon dslr with the kit lens to buy the body only and get this lens instead. The extra $100US is well worth it.

I found it hard to get the flower stem in focus, but macro is possible, as proven in other results.

Canon EOS 500D ~ ISO 800 ~ 1/100 ~ F/5.6 (above image)

Here's another macro shot, this one is slightly better, but I believe that if I used a tripod, different settings, and a different lens, I could have achieved better results, but these images are just to prove that it can provide macro images.

Canon EOS 500D ~ ISO 800 ~ 1/125 ~ F/9 (above image)

Here is a general all round image, with no intended shallow depth of field

Canon EOS 500D ~ ISO 400 ~ 1/150 ~ F/14 (above image)

All images are shot hand held with image stabalisation (IS Switch) turned on

Hello snixtor, and welcome to the friendly Camera Labs forum!
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Nice samples you posted here. Show the kind of bokeh you can expect from this lens.
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Thomas (beware: Nikon-fanboy and moderator!) My Pictures, My Photography BlogD300+assorted lenses